Pando: Marketing tree-planting to end poverty

Pando: Marketing tree-planting to end poverty

Paulownia International Ltd., is a networking company with a difference. It has a unique product – Tree Planting. Yet it gives weight to other products, too, like; investment in shareholding and partnering; environment; charity; and, networking.

It is the brainchild of Hjalmer Mattphew Sommer from Denmark, who is the Managing Director and Chief of Plantations, who has been in networking for the past 22 years.
Pando’s presence in Uganda in the nine months Sommer has been here has already seen the establishment of a 40-acre tree farm of Paulownia trees in Luwero and secured a three-square mile Pando Village in Nakasongola, in Masindi District.

Says Sommer: “Pando is here in Uganda to stay. We will grow and your money will grow together with the trees, even while you are a sleeping partner.” But for this to happen, he emphasizes two attributes of: trust and valuing time.

Pando’s networking is in a marketing system of membership, bonuses of (Direct, Team and Family); and title qualifications in personal values (PVs). To qualify for a title, one should have brought in at least two people below them, who have bought the shares at whatever level.

It works this way: in an ascending level, the lowest of the six rungs of membership is; Iron. This is marketed at UGX 85, 000, a share. The Copper, valued at UGX 425, 000 is next; then, Bronze, which is UGX 1,275, 000. This is followed by the Silver put at UGX 2, 550, 000; then by Gold at UGX 5, 100, 000 and, finally, Platinum at
UGX 21, 000, 000. These memberships are tied up to the titles of: Garnet, Jade, etc., also in ascending levels.

The bonus system works thus: a person who buys a share gets 10 percent (The more shares, the better). A Direct Bonus is paid on the membership for referring ten people when one would have got 4,500 PVs. These PVs are then multiplied by a standard rate calculated by an amount of Euros, and then converted to UGX. So, for a Jade of 10,000 Pvs at 10 percent on the standard rate of Euros 708, one gets Euros 7,080, which works out at UGX 3,000,000, per week.

A member is issued with a Master Card so that he/she can access their money at any bank of hotel. So far, Pando has registered over 500 members.
In our next Issue we shall run another Pando segment on tree-planting